For several moments in the silence of the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse, Marc Rzepczynski sat motionless in his chair, staring into space, wondering where all his control had gone.
It was another tough outing for the young left-hander Wednesday night at Rogers Centre where the strike zone deserted him in his start against the Texas Rangers, who pounded Blue Jays pitching for 16 hits in an 8-1 mauling of Toronto.
The only upside for the Blue Jays is that just 10,616 were on hand to witness the embarrassment.
In seeing his record dip to 1-4 on the year, Rzepczynski constantly fell behind the Texas hitters, who began the onslaught early with a lead-off home run by Ian Kinsler.
Rzepczynski allowed three earned runs, scattering seven Texas hits over five innings pitched where he also walked three batters.
Over his last five starts, Rzepczynski has walked a total of 18 batters over 24 innings. His ERA now stands at an unhealthy 6.47.
"You can't pitch behind, that's what he did probably the last three times out," came the cold assessment of his pitcher by Toronto manager Cito Gaston. "He's going to have to improve that control or the same thing's going to keep happening to him."
Rzepczynski said he felt fine pitching for the first time on three days rest but the walks continue to kill him.
"It's been my nemesis," he said. "When I get ahead it's a lot different."